Searching
by emmerlii
Summary: Sam looks for Frodo after he has been taken by the Orcs to Cirith Ungol. No slash. Please review and enjoy.


**This fic is set while Sam is following the Orcs when they are taking Frodo to Cirith Ungol. It's in his point of view. Please review and enjoy.**

**Searching**

Where are you Mr. Frodo? I should never have left you alone. I am so sorry. I'm sorry for everything. All that I have ever been on this trip is a nuisance and a burden. If I have any hope of saving you, the Ring and everyone else on this world, then I must follow those Orcs. It is the last and only left that I can do to save you Mr. Frodo.

They really are vile creatures. They smell and curse and are horrid little things. I can smell their vile stench from a mile back. I suppose, as horrible and terrible as is sounds, that it is a good thing that I took the Ring before they could take it. If they had found it, they would have taken it to Sauron and the world would have been lost to ruins.

I have to put the Ring on so that they won't see me and I can find you, Mr. Frodo. It's the only thing that I can do.

I see those stupid Orcs pick up your body and begin to move. I must follow them. It will take a while to follow, being as we weren't even near The Dark Tower or The Fiery Mountain. I slip on the Ring and immediately my vision and senses are made stronger. It is a strange thing that something so small and insignificant can cause so much trouble and hate; very strange indeed.

If only Gandalf hadn't fallen in Moria, all nine of us could have gotten to Mordor easily and quicker and without the help of Stinker. And we never would have had to turn Bill away like we did. Those wolves probably got him in the end.

Why does so much hurt and pain have to be?

Why did all of this have to happen to you Mr. Frodo? It isn't fair. You don't and never have deserved all of this. It should never have been your burden to bear. Elrond should have made you stay in Rivendell and let someone else take this thing to the Barren Land and let you live out your days happily. They should have known that you weren't a good candidate for this, especially after your run in with the Nazgul on Weathertop.

We have been walking for hours without rest and I am so weary right now that I may very well collapse. Walking for long periods of time was never something that I was good at.

It seems like we have been walking for an eternity...

The ground on the path is fairly wet and I wonder if it has rained lately. I see a large rock in the middle of the path that has probably fallen from the large cliff face on my right side. I make a mental note not to step on it when I come to it.

Suddenly one of the Orcs screams and curses and it frightens me terribly that I forget about the rock, slip on the wet ground and hit my knee on the rock terribly hard. The pain is excruciating and I stuff my fist inside my mouth to stop from crying out in pain. It's as if my whole leg has been twisted the wrong way and the knee has popped out of the place in which it would usually sit. It's throbbing terribly. I do hope that I haven't broken it.

Before long, I notice that all is quiet. No yelling, no cursing, nothing. The Orcs are gone and I have no idea where they went. There are no signs. No footprints. I see the Tower in sight and it is more than likely that that was where they were headed, but I have no idea of how I'm to get there.

I check my knee and see that it is badly cut and bleeding from where I hit it. I must go on, no matter how bad my pain is. Mr. Frodo is more important. I have to go on. I can't leave you to your death or worse. I can't leave you in this place. My Gaffer would kill me. How I miss him, and Rosie, and the Shire. I miss the cool mornings of spring; the cold days of winter; the smell of the flowers; getting proper garden dirt under my nails instead of this stuff.

I can't think of anything else to do but one thing. I have a feeling that this really isn't the right place for words such as these, but I must. I hold my hands behind my back and begin to sing:

_In western lands beneath the Sun  
the flowers may rise in Spring,  
the trees may bud, the waters run,  
the merry finches sing.  
Or there may be 'tis cloudless night  
and swaying beeches bear  
the Elven-stars as jewels white  
amid their branching hair.  
Though here at journey's end I lie  
in darkness buried deep,  
beyond all towers strong and high,  
beyond all mountains steep,  
above all shadows rides the Sun  
and stars forever dwell:  
I will not say the Day is done  
nor bid the Stars farewell._

A faint yell from the Tower snaps me out of my idiocy. 'Stop it.' I hear a small voice. I would recognize that voice if I were mad in a jungle; Mr. Frodo's. It is such a relief to know that he is alive. I take Sting out of my sheath and put the Ring in my pocket. There is nothing for it. I will see my master again if I get killed doing so.

I charge up the slippery slope, with the pain in my knee getting worse and worse. I can't stop. He needs me and I need him.

Finally I come to the bottom of the stair of Cirith Ungol and slip the Ring on again so they don't see me. I cut the head off the first one and before the other knows what is going on, I cut his head off too. Though it's an Orc, I still feel bad about killing something. They only thing that I have ever killed was a bee when I was very little after it stung my hand because I tried to eat it.

I climb the Stair; stair after stair after stair. It's as if all that is left in the world is staircases. I climb higher until I come across three more Orcs. I can't take this anymore. I take the Ring off and shove it in my pocket. It's as if some unknown force has seized me. I start to make really loud, aggressive, menacing noises, something like a wolf maybe and I hold Sting high above my head. My shadow must have looked terrible because the Orcs backed off. Like they thought I was an Elf or something. I turn the corner and the three of them come closer to me. I cut off the first head. 'That's for Frodo...' The next one comes forward and tries to seize me. I cut him in half. 'And for the Shire...' The next one comes forward and I push it over the edge of the cliff. 'And that's for my old Gaffer.'

I run more and more but I don't find any more and then I see a ladder. I climb it warily and see an Orc towering over something. I hear a small whimper escape the body and know it to be Frodo. '...I'm gonna bleed you, like a stuck pig!' I stick him like his words said and look over his shoulder.

'Not if I stick you first.' Frodo shouts my name.

'I'm sorry, Sam. They took the Ring.' His voice is hoarse and it is a terrible sight to see. His back is bleeding and raw. His eyes rimmed with red, dirt all over his face and body, his ribs showing through his skin. What I would give to see him at a healthy weight and happy again.

'Begging your pardon, but they haven't. I thought I lost you, so I took it for safe keeping. I didn't want to be the one responsible for the world being lost to Him and I had to come and get you so I took it with me.'

'Give it to me, Sam. Give me the Ring.' I don't like seeing him like this but I am smart enough to know that it isn't really him talking, but the power of the One. In any case I don't like it. I take it out of my pocket and already I can feel its pull not to let it go or give it to someone else. I reach my arm out but soon I retract it to my chest for fear that Mr. Frodo will take it from me.

But soon, he sees what I'm doing and he snatches the Ring from my hand. I feel all possession gone.

He looks at it wearily and puts it over his head and I can see immediately that it's as if a great weight has been put onto his shoulders. 'You must understand.' He looks at me sadly and I can see the guilt in his eyes. 'The Ring is my burden. It would destroy you, Sam.' Oh how I hate seeing him like this. From the very first day that I met him I have always felt that I was responsible for keeping Mr. Frodo safe and out of harm's way, and now, in his most dire time of need, there is no way that I can save him.

I wipe my eyes. 'Come on, Mr. Frodo. We had better find you some clothes. You can't go walking through Mordor in nothing but your skin.'

~--*--~

**Thank you for reading. Please leave a review. I didn't write the song but it appears in book six of Return of the King in the first chapter; The Tower of Cirith Ungol. I hope that you enjoyed this fic!**


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